


You have replaced me

by Matzi



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Hunters & Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22708711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matzi/pseuds/Matzi
Summary: Just a short story about what happens if Talanah gets jealous of Ikrie while watching Aloy and Ikrie hunt.Also I suck at summaries.
Relationships: Aloy & Talanah Khane Padish
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	You have replaced me

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea a while back after first finishing Horizon: Zero Dawn. Until now I did not publish it, but here we go. I hope you enjoy.  
> Also I dont not own the characters, I just borrow them for a few words.

Aloy jumped up the small ledge in the hunting area and crouched down beside Ikrie. She had her bow ready and waited for her ally to freeze the last machine. In Aloy’s quiver were 15 arrows left to finish the job. It would be doable but nonetheless hard. Aloy knew very well that every arrow had to hit its mark to take down the fire bellowback. A group of Banuks came to see Ikrie and Aloy fight, and so far they were doing good. The Banuks were watching from a bigger cliff in safe distance right beside their tents. Lauvuk, the keeper of the hunting ground was standing among them, watching the two young girls proudly.

“Aloy, NOW!” Ikrie yelled. Aloy shot three arrows, all landing on the back of the machine. It’s container exploded with a bang, setting the beast on fire.

“Yes!”Aloy yelled, and turned to give her partner a high five.

Ikrie’s eyes widen. “Aloy!”

The bellowback launched at the pair, and Aloy hit the ground hard . The crowd watched with anticipation, as several stepped forward to the cliffs edge for a closer look.

Ikrie immediately went on with the attack, throwing icebomb after icebomb. “Aloy, are you okay?” she shouted at her partner who took a few seconds to recover.

“Yes,” Aloy answered, moving to stand next to Ikrie. “The damn thing just caught me off guard.” Aloy quickly reset and sent three arrows towards the machine again. Two hit it in the front, leaving quite an impact but the last one was overshot and missed completely.

“Try again,” Ikrie yelled. Aloy nodded with determination. She drew a deep breath and shot three more, each one hitting its target. Aloy smiled as she watched the bellowback stumble.

“How many arrows do you have left?” Ikrie asked.

“Six,” Aloy answered as she watched the machine recover from the Ice. Three more arrows were shot with precision. “Okay, now I have only three.”

As Ikrie shot bomb after bomb, Aloy readied her bow again and took aim at the damaged bellowback. Once the bellowback froze she shot at it, sending the machine spiraling once more. With one arrow left Aloy knew it was enough to take it down. She steadied her aim and waited. The moment the bellowback lifted it’s head, Aloy released the arrow with confidence. The machine growled loudly and went down.

“We did it!” Ikrie yelled as she grabbed Aloy in a tight hug. Aloy lifted Ikrie and laughed.

They ran towards the cliff where Lauvuk was waiting for them. Aloy jumped up the ledge and as she was on top she leaned down to pull Ikrie up as well. The friends hugged once more, overjoyed with their success.

“Aloy, Ikrie, it was nice watching the both of you work together. Even our visitors from Meridian enjoyed it. By the way, you gave me a ggod scare there Aloy,” Lauvuk said.

Aloy smiled at Ikrie, then looked at the keeper, “It all worked out for the best.”

“Indeed.”

Another voice said and Aloy turned towards the familiar voice.

“Sunhawk!” Aloy said surprised with a beaming smile.

“Aloy,” Talanah nodded, “long time no see, my Thrush.” Her trained eyes moved to look at the hand resting on Aloys hip. Aloy let go of Ikrie and cautiously stepped forward to give the darker woman a hug that was not easily returned.

“It’s good to see you,” Aloy whispered in Talanah’s ear softly. She stepped back to look at Talanah, ”I miss hunting with you.”

“Well, it seems you found someone else to hunt with.” Talanah looked at Ikrie.

“Uh, yes,” Aloy looked to the ground, “but it’s not the same”.

Talanah moved towards Ikrie with an extended hand. “Hello, I am Talanah, the Sunhawk of Meridian’s hunters lodge,”

“Ikrie, hunter of the Banuk,” Ikrie answered. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Talanah gave her a curt nod.

“What brings you here?” Aloy asked Talanah, “everything okay in Meridian?”

“Everything is fine.” Talanah looked at the keeper. “I have business to discuss with Lauvuk. Plus I heard my Thrush was here, and I had to come and see.”

Aloy smiled even wider at the fact that Talanah came to see her.

“But, I see my Thrush does not need me anymore,” Talanah turned to look at Aloy.

The tone of Talanah’s voice and the look on her face did not go unnoticed by Aloy. She spent enough time with her former sponsor to know that she was feeling hurt, and maybe even a little jealous. Aloy kept her eyes trained on Talanah every fiber in her wanting to reach out but knowing Talanah would never accept, maybe even push her away, and would furthermore disapprove of that amount of affection with strangers close by.

“Aloy, Ikrie, why don't you join our guest and me for dinner tonight,” Lauvuk spoke, trying to break the tension between the two women.

Aloy looked at Talanah. Talanah looked torn. She looked delighted but also a little worried. Without saying anything Aloy knew she could not deny the invitation. She had to join, for Talanahs sake.

“We’d be pleased to join!” Ikrie answered enthusiastically, stepping aside Aloy.

“Yeah,” Aloy smiled nervously. “Looking forward to it.”

\----------------------------

Aloy arrived at the keeper’s tent and found Talanah alone. Ikrie wasn't there yet and Lauvuk was outside with some other hunters cooking something in a big pot.

“Lauvuk wanted to cook racoon soup,” Talanah said. Aloy felt her stomach turn. She hated racoon meat. “I asked her to cook something else,” she added.

“But you love racoon soup.”

“I do, but you hate it,” Talanah said. She looked at Aloy and smiled. “I had to learn it the hard way,” she laughed.

“Thank you,” Aloy said, recalling the incident Talanah was referring to.

“You know, I was trying to impress you with my cooking skills,” Talanah whispered.

Aloy smiled and sat next to Talanah. ”And I wanted to impress you by eating it.”

“Unfortunately, it didn’t end well when you threw it all up.” They laughed at the memory, and Aloy turned beet red.

After a few minutes of silence, Aloy looked at her Hawk. “I haven't replaced you.”

“You and Ikrie did well today,” Talanah said as she avoided looking at Aloy.

“Talanah, I could never…” Aloy started but stopped as the keeper entered the tent with their meal.

Talanah patted Aloy’s knee. “Later,” she said before getting up to help the keeper.

The keeper handed Aloy a bowl of food. “Ikrie will be late. Hunters saw her fight against a few striders.” She added. Alarmed at the news, Aloy quickly rose from her seat. “Stay. She is fine. Fought worse. Please, stay with us. We both know it would be better.”

Aloy looked over to the keeper with confusion, “I don't know what you are talking about.” At that moment Talanah walked into the tent. The keeper looked at Talanah and back at Aloy. Shaking her head, she walked away without saying a word.

Talanah sat down beside Aloy with her bowl and began to eat. Aloy looked at the soup then over at Talanah and joined her. Ever since leaving Meridian to fight Hades, she always cooked for herself and ate alone. It was nice to share a meal with someone.

“This vegetable soup tastes amazing,” she said looking at the keeper.

“Thank you, Aloy. I wanted to make racoon soup, but Talanah told me she does not like racoon,” Lavouk said. “Can you imagine that? Someone who doesn't like racoon? Especially considering she had dried racoon meat with her when she got here,” the keeper looked at Talanah with a smirk. Talanah’s eyes widen, and for a second she looked like a kid caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Aloy looked away, ashamed that Lauvuk might think Talanah’s a liar because of her.

“They probably were for me. I like raccoon a lot,” Aloy lied quickly. Talanah quickly nodded, but Lauvuk was not buying it.

“Sure,” she said smiling.

That moment Ikrie entered the tent with a bowl herself. “Sorry for being late. There were several striders I was taking care of,” she said sitting down opposite to Talanah and Aloy, both nodding at the other woman.

They fell into an easy conversation, exchanging stories about their hunts. Talanah shared how she and Aloy met, how Aloy became her Thrush and how they took down Redmaw.

When it was time for Talanah to leave, Aloy offered to accompany her. Talanahs camp was just outside the hunters ground.

“I’d like to know you reached there safe,” she said. She could see Talanah was contemplating her offer.

“It’s okay if you want to go alone,” Aloy quickly add as a whisper.

“Might give us the chance to catch up,” she added.

Talanah nodded softly and Aloy couldn’t help herself but smile widely.

Aloy jumped up and placed Talanahs fur on the darker skinned womans shoulder. She also offered Talanah one of her own furs so she wouldn’t freeze on their way to the camp. Talanah snuggled herself in the fur barely noticeable and smelled Aloys fur for a moment before she turned to the keeper “Thank you for having me. I had a great day. Let us talk about the lodge tomorrow.”

“Aloy, are you coming?” Talanah asked once she reached the tents entrance and realized the redhead was not with her.

Aloy said her goodbye to the keeper, and followed Talanah out of the tent quickly.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Aloy stopped them and reached for Talanah’s hand. “I meant what I said. I could never replace you. I like hunting with Ikrie but you should know me better, Talanah. No one could ever replace you,” Aloy stated.

“Aloy, I understand. I am your Hawk. I thought you things. I was at your side to fight Hades. But now, I am the Sunhawk and you… you are free to explore the world. To make new friends with other tribes. Maybe you need or want someo… a friend like me in every tribe. It’s okay to need other thing, other people,” Talanah’s voice broke a little her eyes filled with unshed tears. She let her head hung and took a calming breath it wasn’t until Aloy said something that she lifted her head.

“Talanah...,”Talanah shook her head and quickly reached for her bow. Before Aloy could turn around, two arrows flew by her head taking down a stalker.

“Let’s talk at the camp,” Aloy said, “there are less machines than out here.”

They rushed to the camp and Aloy was surprised to see so many Carja up north. When they reached Talanah’s tent, she opened it for Aloy to step in. Feeling the warmth inside Aloy looked at Talanah who simply smiled and shrugged off her furs.

“Petra,” she said as pointing towards an energy cell where heat was radiating from.

“It's impressive,” Aloy said and activated her headpiece to scan the device. She placed her bow and her fur beside the heater and watched Talanah take off her gear and shoes. The redhead caught herself staring at the darker skinned woman's toned stomach as she revealed it.

“Come on Aloy warm up your shoes and sit with me,” Talanah said. Aloy shyly leaned down to undo the fur around them and placed it along with every other warming fur beside the heater. As she stood straight again she saw Talanah looking at her smiling.

“When did you take them off last?” Talanah asked with a giggle. Aloy blushed immediately.

“Do they smell?” Aloy asked shyly. The other woman burst out laughing and padded the space beside her.

“No, they don't. At least I can't smell them here. I was just wondering since you’ve been her quite some time and you even happen to have cold feet down in Meridian,” she answered once her laughter died down.

“Come on, it was a cold night, and I wasn’t feeling well after you tried to poison me,” Aloy answered still blushing.

“It was a summernight,” Talanah answered.

“Tell me, what have you been up to?” Talanah asked more serious once Aloy and she were settled.

“After defeating Hades and saving Meridian and everything surrounding it, I went back to the Nora. I wanted to help them rebuilt everything that was ruined, but they sent me away telling me that my job was not done, my destiny not yet fulfilled. So I went to Rost’s place looking for some comfort. A group of Banuk was waiting there for me, asking me for help. That's how I ended up here,” Aloy replied a little tired.

“Why didn't you ask me to come with you to the Nora? You know I would have helped,” Talanah said.

“You were needed in Meridian, Talanah,” the redhead sighed.

“It sounds like I was needed in Mothers Heart as well,” the Sunhawk replied and reached over to place her hand on Aloy’s knee.

“You were,” Aloy answered quietly, “but still Talanah, you were needed there more than with me. The hunters needed you to regain strength. They needed their Sunhawk beside them.”

“Aloy, it's okay to ask for help and support. You know I would have come with you if you'd ask me. Avad and his men could have handled Meridian themselves,” Talanah replied.

“You know that I never had anyone apart from Rost, its not that easy for me,” Aloy offered softly.

“I know but you have me now, you had me for quite some time,” Talanah answered as she squeezed Aloys knee softly.

Aloy did not respond to it but rather placed her head on Talanahs shoulder nuzzling her neck a little.

For a while they enjoyed the silence they were in, Talanah’s hand still resting on Aloy’s knee while the redhead had placed her hand on top and curled herself a little into Talanah.

“I meant what I said Talanah. No one could replace you. No one could ever mean to me what you mean to me,” Aloy broke the silence. “And it's not just because you're my Sunhawk but because you are special,” Aloy stated. Talanah moved so Aloy had to lift her head off her shoulder and they looked at each other.

“You’re special to me too, Aloy. It felt weird to see you being close to someone else. I think I wasn’t fair on Ikrie,” Talanah whispered.

“She’ll get over it,” Aloy laughed.

“Also, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to my feelings about you,” she stated and leaned her forehead against Talanahs. Talanah could see the emotions in her eyes. She contemplated with herself whether or not to lean in or to just stay this close to the other woman. Just as she was about to make a decision, Aloy closed the gap and pressed her lips softly against the darker woman.


End file.
